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Jan 15, 2012

Belle Isle Ice Tree 2012

A Recent DiscoveryI recently learned about the Belle Isle Ice Tree at the Detroit Moxie blog. Despite living in Detroit for years I had never heard about it. Apparently it is tradition where the city stacks discarded Christmas trees, runs a pipe through them and turns on the water to spray like a sprinkler. Then add Detroit style frigid temperatures, and voila you have the famed Belle Isle Ice Tree!

It's a Family Affair

Belle Isle Ice Tree

On this cold January afternoon the sun was in a battle with the clouds to stay shining, and it provided a perfect backdrop to view the tree up close. There were several families that stopped by and let their kids investigate the ice (ha! not too different than yours truly). A couple of older kids (okay, grown men) were skating on the resulting ice rink surrounding the tree. Mrs. DVD stayed in the car and later remarked that she was impressed by their skating ability. They seemed to be having fun taking turns shooting slap shots at the base of the icy sculpture.A Photo Op for SureBesides shooting the video I snapped some photos and have added them to the DVD Flickr page. Of course I wasn't the only one out there taking pictures, and as is the latest trend many people were simply snapping photos with their camera phones. It was definitely a good vibe as families shot pics of their kids, hustled them into the car, to be replaced by the next round of visitors. The tree isn't too far from the bridge as one exits the island, and I got the impression beside it being a destination it's also the last stop as people are leaving the island.The VideoThe video is a closer view of the ice tree, and it was a little treacherous as I walked on the ice, so keep this in mind if you go take a look. If you find yourself in the neighborhood of Belle Isle, I strongly suggest you check out this man and mother nature made ice art. It's not one of those things you see every day, and those are the ones worthwhile. :)

Likewise, thanks for visiting over here. I just looked again at the photo you took and posted on your blog at MichiganExposures.blogspot.com and I guess from the one day when you took your photo to mine the next day, it's possible for that much ice to form. It is right by the river, and it was cold that weekend!